Home > Governor Signs SB 536 Putting the CA Firearm Violence Research Center to Work with Much Needed Data

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October 18, 2017

PHOTO: Whether it is through policy (SB 536) or working directly with the community on the ASK campaign, Dr. Pan is committed to saving lives from gun deaths

SACRAMENTO – Senate Bill 536, a measure authored by Dr. Richard Pan, to give researchers access to data needed to comprehensively examine firearm violence was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown.

“The Legislature established the University of California’s Firearm Violence Research Center last year, but they need access to raw data to adequately conduct their research,” said Dr. Richard Pan, a pediatrician and state senator representing the Sacramento region. “SB 536 will provide data so academic researchers can evaluate the effectiveness of policy interventions so that we can better prevent gun deaths.”

SB 536 directs the California Department of Justice to provide information on gun violence restraining orders (GVRO) to researchers affiliated with the University of California’s Firearm Violence Research Center and nonprofit educational institutions or public agencies, upon DOJ approval.

“Gun violence is a public health epidemic, and it is imperative that researchers and medical professionals be able to study it as such,” said Amanda Wilcox, of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “SB 536 allows California's best and brightest to study this life-saving law, one that could have spared my daughter's life if it were in place sixteen years ago. The Brady Campaign is honored to have been involved in passing California's Gun Violence Restraining Order law from the get-go, giving us all the power to keep guns out of dangerous hands. Using the data to understand and prevent gun violence is the next step.”

California’s Gun Violence Restraining Order (GVRO) law allows law enforcement and immediate family members to petition the court to obtain a temporary firearm prohibition through a firearm restraining order when a person poses a significant risk of injury to him/herself or others. GVRO records are maintained and housed by the California Department of Justice in electronic format under the California Restraining and Protective Order System.

The bill specifies that the information can only be used for academic and policy research analysis and the publication of identifying information would be prohibited.